§5οὐ γὰρ εἰκὸς οὐδὲ πρέπον, ὥσπερ ἔνιοι φιλόσοφοι λέγουσι, τὸν θεὸν ἐν ὕλῃ πάντα πασχούσῃ καὶ πράγμασι μυρίας δεχομένοις ἀνάγκας καὶ τύχας καὶ μεταβολὰς ὑπάρχειν ἀναμεμιγμένον ἀλλʼ ὁ μὲν ἄνω που περὶ τὴν ἀεὶ κατὰ ταὐτὰ οὕτω φύσιν ἔχουσαν ἱδρυμένος ἐν βάθροις ἁγίοις, ᾗ φησι Πλάτων, εὐθείᾳ περαίνει κατὰ φύσιν περιπορευόμενος οἷον δʼ ἥλιος ἐν οὐρανῷ μίμημα τὸ περικαλλὲς αὐτοῦ διʼ ἐσόπτρου εἴδωλον ἀναφαίνεται τοῖς ἐκεῖνον ἐνορᾶν διʼ αὐτοῦ δυνατοῖς, οὕτω τὸ ἐν πόλεσι φέγγος εὐδικίας καὶ λόγου τοῦ περὶ αὑτὸν ὥσπερ εἰκόνα κατέστησεν, ἣν οἱ μακάριοι καὶ σώφρονες ἐκ φιλοσοφίας ἀπογράφονται πρὸς τὸ κάλλιστον τῶν πραγμάτων πλάττοντες ἑαυτούς.
For it is neither likely nor fitting, as some philosophers say, that God is mixed and present in matter which suffers all things, and in affairs that admit a thousand necessities, chances, and changes. Rather, He is established somewhere on high, upon holy pedestals around the nature which is always in the same state, as Plato says, and accomplishes His way in a straight line, journeying according to nature. And just as the sun in heaven appears to those who are able to look at Him through it as a very beautiful image, a reflection through a mirror, so He established in cities the light of justice and of His own Reason as a sort of image, which the blessed and self-controlled copy from philosophy, shaping themselves after the most beautiful of things.
ταύτην δʼ οὐδὲν ἐμποιεῖ τὴν διάθεσιν ἢ λόγος ἐκ φιλοσοφίας παραγενόμενος·
And nothing produces this disposition except Reason derived from philosophy, lest we suffer what Alexander did.
ἵνα μὴ πάσχωμεν τὸ τοῦ Ἀλεξάνδρου, ὃς ἐν Κορίνθῳ Διογένην θεασάμενος καὶ διʼ εὐφυΐαν ἀγαπήσας καὶ θαυμάσας τὸ φρόνημα καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τἀνδρὸς εἶπεν
εἰ μὴ Ἀλέξανδρος ἤμην, Διογένης ἂν ἤμην· ὀλίγου δέων εἰπεῖν, τὴν περὶ αὑτὸν εὐτυχίαν καὶ λαμπρότητα καὶ δύναμιν ὡς κώλυσιν ἀρετῆς καὶ ἀσχολίαν βαρυνόμενος καὶ ζηλοτυπῶν τὸν τρίβωνα καὶ τὴν πήραν, ὅτι τούτοις ἦν ἀνίκητος καὶ ἀνάλωτος Διογένης, οὐχ ὡς ἐκεῖνος ὅπλοις καὶ ἵπποις καὶ σαρίσσαις.
He, having seen Diogenes in Corinth, and having loved him for his natural talent and wondered at the pride and magnitude of the man, said: "If I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes." Almost to say, he was burdened by his own good fortune, splendor, and power as a hindrance to virtue and a distraction, and envied the cloak and the pouch, because Diogenes was undefeated and unconquerable by these, and not as he himself was by weapons, horses, and pikes.
ἐξῆν οὖν φιλοσοφοῦντα καὶ τῇ διαθέσει γίγνεσθαι Διογένην καὶ τῇ τύχῃ μένειν Ἀλέξανδρον, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο γενέσθαι Διογένην μᾶλλον, ὅτι ἦν Ἀλέξανδρος, ὡς πρὸς τύχην μεγάλην πολὺ πνεῦμα καὶ σάλον ἔχουσαν ἕρματος πολλοῦ καὶ κυβερνήτου μεγάλου δεόμενον.
It was possible, therefore, by practicing philosophy, to become Diogenes in disposition and remain Alexander in fortune, and indeed to become Diogenes all the more because he was Alexander; since for a great fortune, which has much wind and tossing, there is need of much ballast and a great pilot.
§6ἐν μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ἀσθενέσι καὶ ταπεινοῖς καὶ ἰδιώταις τῷ ἀδυνάτῳ μιγνύμενον τὸ ἀνόητον εἰς τὸ ἀναμάρτητον τελευτᾷ, ὥσπερ ἐν ὀνείρασι φαύλοις τις ἀνι τὴν ψυχὴν διαταράττει συνεξαναστῆναι ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις μὴ δυναμένην ἡ δʼ ἐξουσία παραλαβοῦσα τὴν κακίαν νεῦρα τοῖς πάθεσι προστίθησι καὶ τὸ τοῦ Διονυσίου ἀληθές ἐστιν· ἔφη γὰρ ἀπολαύειν μάλιστα τῆς ἀρχῆς, ὅταν ταχέως ἃ βούλεται ποιῇ.
For in the weak, the humble, and private citizens, foolishness mixed with inability ends in harmlessness, as in bad dreams someone who vexes himself disturbs his soul, which is unable to rise up together with its desires. But power, taking wickedness to itself, adds sinews to the passions; and the saying of Dionysius is true, for he said that he enjoyed his rule most when he did quickly what he wished.
μέγας οὖν ὁ κίνδυνος βούλεσθαι ἃ μὴ δεῖ τὸν ἃ βούλεται ποιεῖν δυνάμενον· "
αὐτίκʼ ἔπειτά γε μῦθος ἔην, τετέλεστο δὲ ἔργον. "
ὀξὺν ἡ κακία διὰ τῆς ἐξουσίας δρόμον ἔχουσα πᾶν πάθος ἐξωθεῖ, ποιοῦσα τὴν ὀργὴν φόνον τὸν ἔρωτα μοιχείαν τὴν πλεονεξίαν δήμευσιν.
Great, therefore, is the danger when he who has the power to do what he wishes, wishes what he ought not: "And straightway thereafter was the word, and the deed was accomplished." Wickedness, having a swift course through power, pushes every passion to the extreme, making anger murder, love adultery, and greed confiscation.
"
αὐτίκʼ ἔπειθʼ ἅμα μῦθος ἔην,ʼ
"
καὶ ἀπόλωλεν ὁ προσκρούσας· ὑπόνοια, καὶ τέθνηκεν ὁ διαβληθείς.
"And straightway therewith was the word," and he who has offended is destroyed; there is a suspicion, and dead is the slandered man.
ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ οἱ φυσικοὶ λέγουσι τὴν ἀστραπὴν τῆς βροντῆς ὑστέραν μὲν ἐκπίπτειν ὡς αἷμα τραύματος, προτέραν δὲ φαίνεσθαι, τὸν μὲν ψόφον ἐκδεχομένης τῆς ἀκοῆς τῷ δὲ φωτὶ τῆς ὄψεως ἀπαντώσης· οὕτως ἐν ταῖς ἀρχαῖς φθάνουσιν αἱ κολάσεις τὰς κατηγορίας καὶ προεκπίπτουσιν αἱ καταδίκαι τῶν ἀποδείξεων.
But just as natural philosophers say that lightning bursts out later than thunder, like blood from a wound, but appears earlier, because the hearing receives the sound while the sight meets the light; so in positions of authority, punishments outrun accusations, and condemnations leap out before proofs.
"
εἴκει γὰρ ἤδη θυμὸς οὐδʼ ἔτʼ ἀντέχει,
θινῶδες ὡς ἄγκιστρον ἀγκύρας σάλῳ,
"
ἂν μὴ βάρος ἔχων 5 λογισμὸς ἐπιθλίβῃ καὶ πιέζῃ τὴν ἐξουσίαν, μιμουμένου τὸν ἥλιον τοῦ ἄρχοντος, ὃς ὅταν· ὕψωμα λάβῃ μέγιστον, ἐξαρθεὶς ἐν τοῖς βορείοις, ἐλάχιστα κινεῖται, τῷ σχολαιοτέρῳ τὸν δρόμον εἰς ἀσφαλὲς καθιστάμενος.
"For the passion already yields and no longer holds out, like a sandy fluke of an anchor in a swell," unless reason, having weight, presses down and restrains the power, the ruler imitating the sun, which, when it reaches its highest elevation, being raised up in the northern regions, moves least, rendering its course safe by being slower.
§7οὐδὲ γὰρ λαθεῖν οἷόν τε τὰς κακίας ἐν ταῖς ἐξουσίαις·
For indeed it is impossible for vices to remain hidden in positions of authority.
ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν ἐπιληπτικούς, ἂν ἐν ὕψει τινὶ γένωνται καὶ περιενεχθῶσιν, ἴλιγγος ἴσχει καὶ σάλος, ἐξελέγχων τὸ πάθος αὐτῶν, τοὺς δʼ ἀπαιδεύτους καὶ ἀμαθεῖς ἡ τύχη μικρὸν ἐκκουφίσασα πλούτοις τισὶν ἢ δόξαις ἢ ἀρχαῖς μετεώρους γενομένους εὐθὺς,ἑπιδείκνυσι πίπτοντας·
But just as epileptics, if they get on some high place and are turned around, are seized with dizziness and reeling, which exposes their affliction; so the uneducated and ignorant, whom fortune has slightly lifted up and made aloft with certain riches, glories, or offices, she immediately shows falling.
μᾶλλον δʼ. ʼ, ὥσπερ τῶν κενῶν ἀγγείων οὐκ ἂν διαγνοίης τὸ ἀκέραιον καὶ πεπονηκός, ἀλλʼ ὅταν ἐγχέῃς, φαίνεται τὸ ῥέον οὕτως; αἱ σαθραὶ ψυχαὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας μὴ στέγουσαι ῥέουσιν ἔξω ταῖς ἐπιθυμίαις, ταῖς ὀργαῖς, ταῖς ἀλαζονείαις, ταῖς ἀπειροκαλίαις καίτοι τί δεῖ ταῦτα λέγειν, ὅπου καὶ τὰ σμικρότατα τῶν ἐλλειμμάτων περὶ τοὺς ἐπιφανεῖς καὶ ἐνδόξους συκοφαντεῖται;
Or rather, just as in the case of empty vessels you cannot distinguish the sound from the cracked, but when you pour in, the leak appears, so rotten souls, not holding their authorities, flow outward in desires, angers, boastfulness, and bad taste. And yet, why is it necessary to say these things, when even the smallest of shortcomings in the illustrious and famous are slandered?
Κίμωνος ἦν ὁ οἶνος διαβολή, Σκιπίωνος ὁ ὕπνος, Λεύκολλος ἐπὶ τῷ δειπνεῖν πολυτελέστερον ἤκουε κακῶς.
For Cimon, wine was a reproach; for Scipio, sleep; and Lucullus was ill-spoken of for dining too sumptuously.